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Nokia Moves Further into Mobile Payment Market
(26 Mar 2009, BWCS Staff)Finnish handset maker Nokia is to buy into American mobile payment company Obopay. The move is seen as a sign that wireless banking services are starting to take off in the US and elsewhere. Neither company would reveal the amount of equity taken by Nokia, nor how much it had agreed to pump into the mobile transaction outfit.
In a statement yesterday Teppo Paavola, head of Corporate Business Development at Nokia, said "This investment reflects our belief in the global potential for mobile payments."
The Redwood City-based Obopay, reportedly made a regulatory filing this month for the sale of up to $70 million in preferred stock, though it is not clear how much of this was taken up by Nokia. The filing also noted that Nokia's head of corporate business development will get a seat on the US company's board.
Obopay's services are, so far, available only in the US and India. The idea behind the company's system is that people can pay for goods and services via text messaging or other mobile applications. The money can be drawn down directly from bank accounts or come off pre-stored credit cards. Customers without bank accounts can load cash onto their mobile phones via an Obopay account.
It is worth noting that the investment came from the Finnish company's corporate arm and not its venture arm. This is seen as a sign that the phone-maker plans to work very closely with Obopay.
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